Oh Say, Can You See

On Friday afternoon, two other teachers joined me in my classroom to wait until the clock struck four and we could go home. My classroom is on the back of the building. From it you can easily see all the doings at the naval school behind us. On Friday, the students were out in full force, as they have been for the last week or two, practicing their marching in preparation for Victory Day in May. Believe me, they've started none too soon. These boys can't march in step at all! They practice very slowly and then increase the speed. They practice marching in different formations. And they aren't very good. They're sloppy in posture and in attitude. Even though the music is blaring away, they are more often than not out of step. I've never seen them all marching smartly in time to the music. (Another US teacher tried to argue on their behalf saying that some people simply could not march to a beat. I asked if she'd ever gone to a parade at home and seen people shuffling along and marching out of time. Yeah, me neither.)

With the music playing, we started talking about patriotic music. I mentioned that the suggestion (made by another US teacher and myself) that we, as a school, learned the Russian national anthem was soundly defeated. We were told that the Russian anthem was not a song to sing. It was a song to listen to solemnly, perhaps with one tear trickling down a cheek. My Russian friend confirmed that this was so. She said she didn't even know the words to the anthem. I've heard many Russians comment that they only know the words to the Soviet anthem, not the new one (the tune is the same).

My Scottish friend proceeded to proclaim all patriotic songs rubbish. She said they were just brainwashing--citing God Save the Queen and Rule Britannia as prime examples.

Personally, I like patriotic songs. On my first trip to Europe my friend Dawn and I sang every patriotic song we could think of as we waited in a cold, windy train station just after Christmas. It was comforting and encouraging. The songs are joyful and really do make me proud.

I know that Americans have a reputation for being overly-patriotic. I'm reminded of this often by amazed friends from across the world. But, I don't think that's a bad thing. I think we feel an ownership for our country--it is a nation of the people, by the people and for the people. We are those people! It's our country. I think rejoicing in that fact makes us more cohesive as a nation and more responsible as individuals. You take better care of something in which you have a vested interest.

So, the next time you get the chance to stand together with a group of disparate people and proclaim together your common allegiance to the flag (and to the republic for which it stands) and sing about the country that flag represents, stand tall, sing loud and be thankful. I am looking forward to the day when I can stand with you.